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ABOUT US

The Financial Literacy and Economic Justice Conference (referred to as “Flejcon”) is an annual, student-organized event drawing together faculty, administrative offices, community partners, and student leaders in facilitating workshops on financial literacy and economic justice to the greater student body. Core workshop topics will include an introduction to tax return filing, planning a personal budget, navigating student financial aid, and tackling the rising cost of tuition and housing. In the late afternoon, students will convene on the keynote address, which will feature major figures on the topics of poverty and socioeconomic justice.

FLEJCON began as a Big Ideas at Berkeley entry in 2015 that won 1st place in “Improving Student Life" and is in preparation for its second conference on April 9, 2017.

OUR PURPOSE

Financial stress is a pervasive socioeconomic and health problem at UC Berkeley that is set to grow in the years ahead. In the 2014 Undergraduate Experience Survey administered at UC Berkeley, 67% of students reported being concerned about paying for their undergraduate education. In response to the rising cost of education, 47% of students have skipped meals, and 88% of students have cut down on personal/recreation spending. Moreover, on campus 65% of students depend upon some form of financial aid to afford their degree. Against a backdrop of rising tuition costs, reduced government funding for public education, and the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area – these statistics underline the grim reality of the socioeconomic welfare of students on campus.

Our purpose is to directly reduce financial illiteracy, a major driver of financial stress, among college students by hosting the first student-organized and student-oriented conference of its kind at UC Berkeley. We choose UC Berkeley because it has a large, socioeconomically diverse student body and because the campus is surrounded by organizations that, independently, do work in financial literacy and/or economic justice. Working together, we hope to support UC Berkeley as a leader in providing comprehensive financial literacy and economic empowerment education across our campus community.

PARTNERS & SPONSORS

Our conference is made by possible by the contribution of UC Berkeley departments, student organizations, and corporate partners.